Caring for all our people

We believe in a fair and inclusive Wine Society, where everyone feels a sense of belonging and has an equal chance to reach their potential. We also have a duty of care to all our people – which includes workers in our supply chain, members, Society employees and our local community. 

That’s why we have developed a clear set of goals to build an equitable and inclusive culture, improve health and wellbeing and promote responsible drinking.

Our people are our greatest asset. We believe that when our colleagues feel healthy and well, they are better able to share the joy of good wine with members and deliver exceptional service.

Expanding our employee benefits

In 2023 we conducted a benefits review. This resulted in:

• improving our maternity pay
• increasing holiday allowance
• introducing new long-service awards
• adding gym membership
• adding access to free mortgage advice

Improving equity, diversity and inclusion

• created a headline plan of all the things we need to do to make progress on EDI, which we are working through
• introduced a quarterly Pulse Survey to better understand who our employees are and what they want and need from us as a responsible employer
• started the work to make EDI ‘everyone’s project’ – led by the Executive and Senior Leadership Teams – enabling managers to confidently have conversations on these topics
• reviewed and revised all our employee policies, guidelines and information to ensure that they reflect the type of inclusive and fair business we want to be
• introduced a new Recruitment Tool (Networx) which removes identifiable information from applicants’ CVs, so that hiring managers are not biased in their selections

Enhancing health and wellbeing

We have a highly engaged Wellbeing Team, made up of volunteers from across the business dedicated to improving physical, psychological and financial wellbeing. The main activity of the team is creating awareness among colleagues of the importance of looking after our own health and wellbeing and pointing people to the myriad of help and support on offer.

Providing access to an independent whistleblowing service

In autumn 2023 we introduced an independent, confidential reporting hotline managed by a third party called Safecall. It provides a confidential and anonymous channel for any members of staff to report wrongdoing in the workplace. The next step is to roll out SafeCall through the TWS supply chain in due course, as part of our Supply Chain Due Diligence programme.

Supporting our local community

In September 2023 we launched the inaugural Community Wine Programme where nine participants, sourced from our local Jobcentre Plus, joined us for an 18-hour training and development programme delivered over six weeks. The purpose of the programme is to provide help, skills and guidance to those facing difficulty in their lives. The programme included gaining a wine qualification (WSET Level 1), learning more about how retail and the wine industry works, CV writing and interviewing skills. We are now revising and improving the curriculum for our second cohort, due to begin in autumn 2024.

As of February 2024, we have agreed an annual budget of £12,000, plus in-kind donations of wine, that we will donate to charities each year. This is managed by our employee-led charity ambassadors, who decide how the funds are dispersed. Our charity ambassadors, along with our social team, are also responsible for organising fundraising activities across the business and using some of the budget to provide matchfunding, as an additional incentive to encourage colleagues to do their own events and fundraising activities.

And while we’re keen to share the love of good wine, we’re also aware of the need to promote responsible drinking. We now highlight calorie/alcohol-unit information for our own-label wines and have introduced a fantastic low/no-alcohol product range for members.  
  
Finally, we want you to know that we aim to maintain a fair, inclusive and diverse Wine Society, one in which everybody feels they can be a part of it. If you love wine, The Society is for you, it’s as simple as that.

For more information, view our sustainability section